Obesity: Only half of England has access to comprehensive weight loss services

Access to services across England for obesity treatment is severely restricted, an investigation by The BMJ has found. Patients in nearly half the country cannot get appointments with specialist teams for weight loss support and care, including treatment with drugs such as semaglutide, showed responses to freedom of information requests. And in nearly one in five local health areas patients don’t have access to a bariatric surgery service.

Obesity specialists told The BMJ that services for weight management in England are not given the priority they deserve, often being the first to be cut when budgets are tight. Patients are also often the victims of prejudice among many people, including some health professionals and commissioners, who believe that they are less worthy of care than other patients.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) receive annual funding from NHS England to commission services for their local areas, referred to as integrated care systems (ICSs).1 The boards then allocate money to the services they deem most important to their local population, meaning that those that the commissioners believe are least important may not receive any funding.2

ICBs are under huge financial pressure, with some reporting large budget deficits and others cutting services in attempts to save money.3456 Earlier this year the former MP Sarah Wollaston resigned her post as chair of Devon’s ICB after refusing to make further cuts.7

The BMJ analysed responses from all 42 of England’s ICBs about the weight loss services they commission. The responses showed that just over half of the ICBs (24 of the 42) commission both tier 3 and 4 (box 1) adult weight loss services that cover their …